This guide is for everyone, either you’re reading this for yourself or for your kids, as a reminder to give you and your hearing the extra protection it needs as early as now.

BASIC TYPES OF HEARING LOSS AND THE POSSIBLE CAUSES BEHIND IT

Conductive Hearing Loss

Conductive hearing loss happens when sounds are not able to travel from the outside of the ear to the inner parts such as ear drums and tiny bones. This can be brought about by blockage of foreign bodies such as ear wax and fluids. Perforated eardrums and abnormal ossicle growth can also cause this type of hearing loss.

What causes conductive hearing loss?

This type of hearing loss can be either congenital or acquired. The following explains the 2 types of conductive hearing loss.

Congenital Conductive Hearing Loss

Congenital deafness happens during a mother’s pregnancy and is usually progressive for the first decade of the child. This type of hearing loss may result from the following reasons:

Congenital stenosis: This is a condition that describes the narrowing of ear canals due to birth defect.

Malformation of the middle ear structures

Acquired Conductive Hearing Loss

Acquired deafness on the other hand happens some time after childbirth and may be triggered by the following reasons:

Cerumen or earwax build up

Infection: Otitis externa, inflammation on the outer ear and Otitis media, inflammation on the middle ear, may also hinder sounds from traveling to the inner ear because of swelling or fluid buildup.

Perforated eardrums: A hole in the eardrum may result from infections or trauma. When this happens, the ability of the eardrums to catch sound vibrations deteriorates.

Otosclerosis: Ossicles are small bones in the middle ear that functions as transmitters of sounds to cochlea. In the event that these tiny bones stiffens, it will fail to do its job well.

Sensorineural Hearing Loss

Sensorineural hearing loss comprises most of hearing cases around the world. This type of hearing loss means that the organ is having a problem in the cochlea, which transforms sounds into neural messages that get sent to the brain. Damage on these parts of the hearing sense occurs through aging, illness, genetics, injuries, and prolonged exposure to loud noise.

What causes sensorineural hearing loss?

This type of hearing loss can also be either congenital or acquired. The following explains the 2 types of sensorineural hearing loss.

Congenital Sensorineural Hearing Loss

The same with conductive hearing loss, congenital deafness happens during a mother’s pregnancy and is usually progressive for the first decade of the child. This type of hearing loss may result from the following reasons:

Prematurity

Gestational diabetes

Low oxygen levels during childbirth

Pregnancy infections such as rubella

Genetics

Acquired Sensorineural Hearing Loss

The same with conductive hearing loss, acquired deafness on the other hand happens some time after childbirth and may be triggered by the following reasons:

Aging

Exposure to extremely loud noise

Disease or infections that damage the inner ear

Head injury

Tumors that affect the auditory system

Medications that are damaging to the hearing health

Mixed Hearing Loss

Mixed hearing loss occurs as a combination of conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. This means that this type happens when the ear is having a problem in both the outer/middle ear and inner hearing systems.

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